Who is running for California’s 4th Congressional District?
California’s newly-drawn 4th Congressional District includes Woodland, Yuba City and Napa and have a familiar face running for re-election.
Rep. Mike Thompson was elected to Congress more than 25 years ago and earned 66.5% of votes in the 2024 election while taking on a Republican. But this year he faces competition from his own party along with several other challengers.
The deadline to file is March 6. Here are the contenders in the field so far:
Eric Jones (D)
Jones, 35, founded an organization called the American Dream Institute, which says it is trying to help the Democratic Party rebuild trust with young Americans by better understanding what their concerns, frustrations and goals are. His campaign focuses heavily on lowering the cost of living and he has a range of policy goals in that area. Those include a $10,000 middle class tax credit, bringing down prescription drug prices and reducing premiums for health coverage. He said on his campaign website he will not accept money from corporate political action groups and will hold PG&E “accountable to improve the reliability of electricity, reduce wildfires, and lower rates for all of us.”
Trevor Merrell (D)
Merrell is a member of the California Youth Empowerment Commission, an advisory body that aims to help the lives of young people in the state. He was appointed to the role by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2024. Merrell’s campaign website says he works as a case manager for adults with disabilities. He said will support a moratorium on artificial intelligence data centers, will vote to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and “fight to end the for-profit healthcare system that preys upon us and our patients during the most vulnerable moments of our lives.”
Mike Thompson (D)
Thompson, 75, joined Congress in 1999 after serving in the California Senate. He is a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, which oversees taxes and other financial areas. Thompson touts his support of the Affordable Care Act as an example of him making sure people in his district to get health insurance. He calls the country’s deficit a fiscal crisis that he is aiming to solve and says he will continue to fight to guarantee people can receive Social Security and Medicare, among other issues. “My number one priority as your member of Congress is growing our economy, creating good jobs and strengthening our middle class,” he said on his campaign website.
Republicans Sharon Brown, Mandy Ghusar, Laurie Mackenzie and Heath Fulkerson and an independent, John Tyler, have also registered to run but have raised less than $10,000, according to the Federal Election Commission, or appear to have no official campaign website.
This story was originally published February 13, 2026 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Who is running for California’s 4th Congressional District?."
